U.S. Air Force C-130 airdrop operations in 1968, during Vietnam War. C-130 aircraft in flight. View of supplies being airdropped. View from inside cabin of a C-130, as South Vietnamese paratroopers jump from the aircraft. A heavy pallet of supplies being pulled onto a runway by parachutes, from the rear of a low-flying C-130. Scene shifts to October 14, 1973,at Lod International Airport, Tel Aviv, Israel, where a U.S. Air Force Military Airlift Command C-5 aircraft is unloading 186,200 pounds of military assistance cargo, at the start of the U.S. "Nickel Grass" airlift operation during the Yom Kippur war or Arab-Israeli War of 1973. Pallets of ammunition are seen being offloaded, followed by a 175mm self-propelled gun, covered with wooden cargo boxes. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and other observers watch stand on the airport ramp. Golda Meir meets and greets members of the U.S. Air Force crew.
Opening scenes show Israeli tanks in the Sinai desert. Israeli troops are seen coping with damaged and destroyed defensive positions and equipment. Momentary glimpse from cockpit of a U.S. Air Force transport aircraft landing on a runway in Israel. Israeli workers emptying explosives and ammunition from the hold of a U.S. Air Force Military Airlift Command (MAC) C-141 aircraft. An American. M107 175mm self-propelled gun being offloaded from a MAC C-5 Galaxy transport plane. Israeli workers unloading many tons of military supplies and equipment from MAC aircraft.
A civilian narrator is speaking from the Military Airlift Command (MAC) Headquarters Command Post, at Scott Air Force Base,Illinois. He mentions MAC missions supplying war materiel to Israel, in 1973, and the famous Berlin Airlift of 1948. Scene shifts to troops in military exercises, riding across fields in U.S. M113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) and walking with their weapons and gear. An M60 Patton tank moves along a muddy road, past the camera. Troops of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne division stand in formation on a ramp next to a MAC C-141 transport aircraft. They are about to be airlifted to Europe, to participate in War games, in Germany. Some of their armor and trucks seen offloading at a destination airfield. Major John Gray, Jr. of the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division is interviewed, standing in front of a C-141 aircraft from the MAC 62d Airlift Wing, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. UH-1 (Huey) helicopters deploying infantry in a field and moving away as the troops advance during an exercise. M113 APCs moving past the camera. MAC C-141s landing in Germany as they airlift the U.S. troops who participate in these exercises.Several C-141s taxiing on the airfield. A MAC C-5 Galaxy aircraft with its nose hatch open and armored vehicles that it carried, parked in front of it. Closeup of turret on an M60 medium main battle tank. View of the tank being loaded into a C-5 and view inside the aircraft as the tank is maneuvered in its cargo hold.
An airlift operation in Lod, Tel Aviv, Israel. Israelis offload cargo from a United States Air Force C-141A Starlifter aircraft onto a K-loader. Soldiers stand and talk.
An airlift operation in Lod, Tel Aviv, Israel. United States Air Force C-141A Starlifters parked on Lod Airport. Trailer trucks parked on a flight line. The trailer trucks carry ordnance. An Israeli stands and talks. Activities on the Lod Airport in the background. A C-141A Starlifter taxis.
An airlift operation in Lod, Israel. Israelis load ordnance onto trailer trucks. Explosives kept in a truck. Soldiers stand and talk. A driver in the truck. A tug pulls a train of dollies loaded with ordnance. Forklifts load ordnance containers and projectiles onto the trucks.